Civic Pioneers

From Future of Local Services to the Public

Foreward to the report

The local authorities who have contributed to this report are Civic Pioneers, dedicated to sharing and learning from their successful examples of working with communities and involving local people. This report, carried out on behalf of the network by the Community Development Foundation, presents real live examples of local communities and public bodies working together to tackle local issues. These examples teach us some challenging lessons. They demonstrate the value of innovation and new ways of thinking and working together. The message is clear: Government – whether local or national – can’t solve everything, and nor can communities. It’s better when we work together.

The Civic Pioneers network is important to our understanding of what makes effective community engagement because local authorities play such a key role in enabling local people to take part in decisionmaking. As the examples in this report show, local authorities really can make a difference by working in a way that enables people to get involved. This is essential if we are to achieve long term sustainable solutions for local people. Civic Pioneers have in common a commitment to develop the skills and provide training for local people and community groups, particularly those that are at greatest risk of social exclusion. Their membership of the network signals a commitment from the public sector to involve local people in the development of policies and practices, particularly those that will have a day to day impact on their lives. As a result of their willingness to better understand and, potentially, change the way they work with communities, more citizens are able to take responsibility and play their crucial role in resolving local issues.

It was important that this report was written by and for the Civic Pioneers themselves, rather than coming from Government. Birmingham, Rochdale, Newcastle, Ipswich, Sheffield, Plymouth, Manchester and Newham have contributed case studies and together they tell a fascinating story about local people becoming actively involved in the design and delivery of public services. There are many more where these came from and you’ll find further case studies at www.active-citizen.org.uk. This report offers some of the best examples and we shall see many more coming through the network and others as our understanding of what works best when we work together grows.